A Port Theatre Spotlight Series Presentation
No Regrets
Songs of the legendary French sparrow, Edith Piaf
For close to three decades, Canadian singer Joëlle Rabu toured extensively with her long-time quartet throughout five continents. In 1989, six months before the birth of her son Nico Rhodes, Joëlle premiered her new show titled Tonight…Piaf, in Vancouver, B.C.
Twenty-five years later, this award-winning biographical play, made its orchestral debut with the Vancouver Island Symphony orchestra at Nanaimo’s Port Theatre, featuring the musical arrangements by none other than her son Nico, who was a 25 year-old, award-winning musician-composer. This moment was the catalyst for Joëlle, who had taken a decade long hiatus from theatre, to return to the stage.
Joëlle and Nico have since created No Regrets; an intimate musical revue of Piaf’s most memorable songs interspersed with anecdotal stories of her turbulent yet fascinating life.
The connection that these two versatile performers have on stage is electric. In addition to Nico’s lush musical arrangements and Joëlle’s powerful voice, their ability to tell a story; their humorous banter that can only stem from their inter-generational points of view; their life’s paths that have caused heartache and laughter; and their vulnerability is the fodder that creates musicality and theatricality into one magical event.
As one critic summed it up so well: “Rabu is an extraordinary performer. Her passion-filled voice is spine-tingling and her stage presence electric.” “Nico Rhodes’ musical ability is nothing short of stunning with breathtakingly fresh sounds and style radiating from this young musician whose hands effortlessly fly across a keyboard leaving us in utter amazement and jumping to our feet at the end of a solo!”
